Hey, guys!!
My training camp blog is FINALLY here! When I first attempted to write this blog, I had been home from training camp for exactly one week. I wanted to give myself a little bit of time to process everything before I started writing this blog. As of right now, I have been home for over two weeks, and this blog is going up 9 days late… Why, you ask? Because this is my third attempt at writing this blog, as my computer just up and deleted the first two. I was furious. So, considering the number of hours and tears I’ve put into it, this better be the best dang blog you’ve ever read.
Before I get into the 7 things that I learned, I want to give you a little glimpse into what training camp looked like for me. I don’t want to go too deep into detail for the sake of any future racers reading, because I want you all to be able to have your own, fresh view of camp. I promise you it’s so much better (and slightly scarier, I know) to go into training camp blindly. You can’t be disappointed if you don’t have any expectations to be met. 🙂
First of all, I want to rave about the amazing staff at Adventures in Missions. They were there the minute we arrived to greet us with open arms, and their arms were open to us the entire time we were there (they are great huggers, by the way). They have the biggest hearts not only for Jesus, but for all of us racers as well. The staff dedicates so much of their personal time to discipling us for the mission field, and they invest so much into each of us individually to really know and understand who we are. I have never met a more encouraging group of people.
Secondly, roughin’ it was not as bad as I thought it would be. No, bucket showers are not my first choice when it comes to bathing, but I’d be lying if I told you that I didn’t enjoy a nice, cold bucket shower on a 95 degree Georgia day. Port-a-potties, on the other hand, I do not have anything positive to say about. Don’t ever take your flushing toilet for granted. Surprisingly, I did (sort of) get used to the bugs. On night one I nearly had a heart attack when I went to get into my tent and found 4, yes FOUR, spiders on my door. But by day 10, I was just picking them up with my fingers and throwing them off, like no big deal (except for the wolf spiders, I wouldn’t touch one of those suckers with a 10-foot pole).
Lastly, I fell completely in love with my squad. Each and every one of them have immensely unique personalities, with the same huge heart for the Lord; which is so cool to me. I was able to spend time and bond with each person on my squad at some point throughout the 11 days, and I can confidently say that I now have 19 new best friends that I cannot wait to be the hands and feet of Jesus with. We already have so much fun together, even when we’re smelly and hot and tired and hungry. 🙂
Now, for the part you most likely came for, the 7 things that I learned at training camp:
1. Comfort zones are not for growing.
I have always been a pretty shy and easily embarrassed person. Like the type whose face turns red when any sort of attention is drawn to them. So the thought of flying down to Georgia to meet over 50 strangers, by myself, was daunting. I knew going into this that I would be stretched out of my comfort zone, and I had been praying a lot, asking God for help with this. What I didn’t know was how far I’d be stretched. During camp, we all kept journals that we wrote in daily. On the second day, I wrote, “I feel like I’ve been pushed so far out of my comfort zone already, and it’s only day two – which makes me slightly nervous for the next 10 days, but I’m also so excited. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for me.” I knew that the Lord was answering my prayers, because the thought of befriending the 19 people on my squad, playing embarrassing games with them, and becoming 100% vulnerable to them, all of a sudden became exciting to me. I leaped probably as far out of my comfort zone as I ever have before, and I’ve never grown so much in so little time. I am so thankful that God gave me the strength and vulnerability to open up at camp, because my experience would not have been nearly the same if I hadn’t, and I would not have grown nearly as much if I had stayed all cozy in my comfort zone.
2. You don’t have to earn God’s forgiveness, all you have to do is accept it.
Each day at camp, we listened to a speaker (or multiple speakers), all of whom were wise beyond my years. Each of them had their own story to tell about the World Race, along with their piece of advice and lessons learned. One of my favorite speakers was an old-in-age but young-at-heart man named Andrew. I think Andrew taught me the most important lesson at training camp. He talked a lot about forgiveness; what we as Christians do to try to “earn” forgiveness, under what circumstances we give forgiveness, and how we expect to receive forgiveness. I think one of the most common misconceptions that I, and maybe even some of you, have believed my whole life is that I need to earn God’s forgiveness. Boy oh boy, was I wrong. If I needed to beg for forgiveness every time I sinned, then what was the point of the cross?? Jesus paid the ultimate price, His LIFE, so that our sins would be removed. Not covered, removed. Andrew said the most powerful, yet simple, phrase that will stick with me forever. He said, “the only thing that you need to be in order to be forgiven, is a sinner.” WOW. It’s already been done; Jesus already earned forgiveness for us. The only thing we need to do is accept it. So I’ve stopped begging God for forgiveness, and started to simply apologize and just accept His forgiveness. I’ve also realized that this is how we’re supposed to forgive the people in our lives, too. If we’re called to love like Jesus, wouldn’t that mean we’re called to forgive like Him, too? Regardless of whether or not they’re sorry, we are called to forgive them anyway, because we ourselves are forgiven – even when we don’t deserve it.
3. It doesn’t matter how far you’ve run, God is the father that just wants his kids back.
When a child goes missing, the parents of the child are always willing to do anything and everything to get their child back, right? They’ll pay any ransom, give away their most expensive possessions, they’ll even offer themselves in exchange to set their child free. Whether you know it or not (I sure hope you do), you are a child of God. He created you and He loves you; you are His child. When the enemy steals you away from Him, when you betray Him and sin against Him, He fights for you anyway. He paid the biggest ransom of all by sacrificing His son in hopes that we would be set free and come running home to our Father. No matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, no matter how far you’ve run, God is the father that just wants his kids back. Love keeps no record of wrong, and the truest love you’ll ever experience is the love of your Heavenly Father. As I said previously, you don’t need to beg for forgiveness. So why wouldn’t you come home? If you’re already forgiven, and He’s waiting for you with open arms, what’s stopping you? He’s not asking for anything from you, all He wants is a relationship with you. It’s not about showing up on Sunday, listening to the right podcasts, or going to the right bible studies. It’s about how the Lord lives in you. He wants to do life with you. The only thing that’s equally as important as having a relationship with God, is sharing Him with others. Are you going to make Him Lord of your life and just sit there, or are you going to help Him build His kingdom? It’s really simple, honestly. Pray for people, and let them know when you’re doing so. Let people know of the good news of God’s grace, and how easy it is to accept it. Share the miracles that the Lord has performed in your life, and how He can do the same for anyone who believes in Him. God does all of the work in saving people, we just provide the stepping stones and pave the path for them to get there. Lay some stepping stones, and be intentional with them.
4. The mission field is wherever you are.
This is one of the biggest lessons that I’ve learned since signing up for the World Race. With being a racer comes fundraising, and with fundraising comes questions, and with questions comes discussion. I have told my story in so many different places; at work, at restaurants and coffee shops, at school, at the dentist, at the doctor, and even at a Badger football game. I’ve found that people, even complete strangers, are moved when they hear how passionate you are about something. They’re more apt to listen, which means they’re more apt to accept Jesus if they haven’t already. I’ve had a few people tell me that I’ve inspired them to either find a church, or start going back to church, after hearing my story – which makes my heart smile. One thing that was emphasized every single day at training camp was how we need to have a “yes” in our spirits. We must always be willing to share the Gospel; any time, any place. The mission field is not just the 11 countries that I’m traveling to; the mission field is wherever I am. There is a sign at the exit of the parking lot of a church near my hometown that reads “Your mission field starts here”, and I think every church needs that sign.
5. Over 42% of the world’s population is unreached by the Gospel.
There is a portion of the world referred to as the 10/40 window. The 10/40 window is an area located between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator. This area is considered to be unreached by the Gospel. So unreached that barely anyone in this area has ever seen a Bible, or even heard the name of Jesus (how crazy?). It is said that about 42% of the world’s population lives in this 10/40 window. To give you a better perspective, the population of the entire world is about 7.7 billion. 7,700,000,000 people. 42% of 7.7 billion is roughly 3,234,000,000 people. 3.2 BILLION people that have no means to hear about Jesus, even if they wanted to! I was shocked and heartbroken when I heard this. I’m determined to change these statistics. Sure, we’re going out into the world as World Racers to share the Gospel and do good things; but the world doesn’t need World Racers, it needs Jesus. If you know Jesus, you can help change these statistics, too. If you have the secret to eternal life in Heaven, why wouldn’t you share it with anyone and everyone you know? We as Christians are supposed to be an expression of Jesus’s love to a hurting world. I, for one, am going to try my hardest to live up to that expression.
6. Home is not a place.
After spending less than 2 weeks in Gainesville, Georgia, it already felt like home. Keep in mind, I was living in a tent that whole time. Nothing about the environment was homey; it was the people surrounding me that made it feel like home. Throughout these next 11 months, I am going to settle into a new “home” 11 times. Every month I will be relocating, and every place will become home because of the people that I am living with. I found that when I was homesick during camp, it wasn’t home that I was missing, it was the people back home that I was missing. I don’t think home is defined by a place, but by the people and the love that fill a place. Because of the love shared within my squad, anywhere I go with them will feel like home. What a comforting feeling that is.
7. Whether you know it or not, you have a story, and your story is worth telling.
I heard many, many different testimonies from racers during my time at camp. Some heartbreaking, some uplifting. What I found was that every single story meant something to me. I came into camp thinking that I didn’t have much of a testimony, and what my story consisted of wasn’t very important. I didn’t want to tell my testimony for many reasons; I didn’t want to be judged, I’m easily embarrassed, and many other things. But I realized that if I learned something from every single testimony that I heard, my story had to mean something to at least one person. Jesus left the 99 to save the 1, so if I have to be vulnerable in front of 99 people just for 1 person to be saved by my story, so be it.
Well, if you made it this far, you rock. Seriously. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my jumbled thoughts, I hope you learned a thing or two.
All my love,
Hannah
